Juniors Journal: Kings' Piacentini proving doubters wrong

When describing what quite a few hockey teams look for in
a prospect, former National Hockey League coach turned television
analyst Barry Melrose once said, “The small player must prove
he can play while the big player must prove he
can’t.”

Tyler Piacentini has scored eight goals
in his first nine games this season. (Photo: South Shore
Kings)

At 5-foot-5, Tyler Piacentini of the Eastern Junior Hockey
League’s South Shore Kings is proving night in and night out
that he can play.

Kings coach Scott Harlow believes his star forward has all
the tools and talent to continue on to the highest level of college
hockey.

“Tyler is playing great and I think he is a top
player in the league,” the coach said. “He is
attracting a lot of Division 3 interest at the moment. I think he
is a Division 1 hockey player -- the size being the issue here. You
can not measure hockey sense and heart.”

How does Piacentini feel when the critics bring up his
“lack” of height?

“I really don’t listen to people when they say
that stuff,” the Weymouth, Mass., native said. “I just
play my game. I like to watch and play a similar style to
(Minnesota Wild forward) Zach Parise. Like him, I use my size as an
advantage. I’m a hard-working, grinding forward who likes to
go to the net. I try to be quick and be first to the puck. I also
like to stand in front of the (opponent’s) net and try to
draw penalties when the defensemen cross check me in the
back.”

Nine games into the season, Piacentini has scored eight
goals and six assists to lead the EJHL in scoring with fourteen
points. He has registered nine points in his last four games.
It’s a streak he hopes to continue this weekend against the
Portland Jr. Pirates and the Rochester Stars as his club looks to
break its first place tie with the Jersey Hitmen in the
league’s South Division.

The crafty center gives credit to his linemates for his
early season success.

“I’ve been playing well and my linemates,
Jonathan Mleczko (Dorchester, Mass.) and Chris Calnan (Norwell,
Mass.), have been great,” Piacentini said. “We keep it
simple and just throw pucks at the net.”

Piacentini has his sights set on continuing his hockey
career after this season.

“I’m looking to play college hockey for
either a Division 1 or 3 school,” he said. “I try to
get noticed by the coaches.”

Piacentini has been getting noticed by coaches and players
alike due to his smaller stature all his life. Now, he is garnering
attention for his skill, grit and scoring ability. Those are things
all coaches at all levels of hockey look for.

Game of the Week:

Tri-Town Arena in Hooksett, N.H. is the place to be this week, as
the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs will host a slate of EJHL games. The
game all eyes will be on is Thursday’s matchup between the
new North Division leader, the Boston Junior Bruins, and the second
place club in the division, Valley Jr. Warriors. BJB will be led
into this battle by goaltender Sean Lawrence. The Granite Bay,
California native has a 7-1-0-0 record and a 2.25 goals against
average, accompanied by a .917 save percentage.

Lawrence will need to be at the top of his game when he
faces Valley’s leading scorer and Carolina Hurricanes draft
pick Brendan Collier (Charlestown, Mass). Collier is seventh in
league scoring with 10 points. He has scored five goals, with two
of those markers coming on the power play and one while
shorthanded. He also has one game-winning goal. Rookie Ryan
Fitzgerald will return to the Warriors this week after spending
last weekend with the USA Hockey U18 NTDP team, with whom, he
played against the University of Wisconsin and Notre
Dame.

New EnglandPower
Rankings

To read Shawn Hutcheon’s analysis of each team
in the top 15, head over to our junior
power rankingspage.